No Surprise: Ohio labor unions back Democrats
By Tyler Carey, Theresa Cottom and Carolyn Pippin
Jim Zevenbergen is a business agent and executive board member for the Local 894 of the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) in Akron, a union for construction workers who, on their website say, are “proud to build America.”
But Zevenbergen has seen the fall of his union and many others over the past few decades.
“There’s been a decline in the labor unions in the past 20 or 30 years,” Zevenbergen said.
That’s why LIUNA has decided to support democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. The labor union, which represents 558,000 workers across the country, endorsed her back in November before the democratic party chose her as its nominee.
“LIUNA members are deeply concerned about the direction of our country and are looking for a real leader who will create good jobs, rebuild our country, and grow our economy,” the organization said in a press release. “Secretary Clinton’s record proves that she is a tough and tested fighter for our nation and for working men and women.”
LIUNA is among three dozen labor unions that have endorsed Clinton this election season, representing nearly 31 million people.
The majority support of left-leaning labor unions is nothing new in the U.S. organized labor and the democratic party have been seen hand-in-hand since the National Labor Relations Act was passed in 1935, one of the most important legacies of the New Deal.
The act gave federal sanction to unions and set up the National Labor Relations Board to enforce collective bargaining—an appeal Clinton’s made to labor workers that Zevenbergen cites as one of his reasons for supporting her.
“Donald Trump has already come out and said that he doesn’t believe that,” Zevenbergen said. “He’s for national right to work laws.”
Right-to-work laws make it possible for employers to overwork employees, without a break or overtime.
That’s where collective bargaining comes into play, said David Schuckert, president of Local 153 American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
“You need to be able to negotiate your terms and your wages and your benefits,” Schuckert said. “It creates a voice for the little guy.”
Trump has had a rollercoaster relationship with unions during his candidacy and history as a businessman in New York City.
“He always had the reputation of being someone who built union in New York City,” Larry Cary, founding partner of Manhattan labor law firm Cary Kane LLP, told Newsweek in an article in June.
Trump has attracted blue-collar workers, a sizable portion of labor unions, with anti-free trade and border security arguments that appeal to people who’ve lost their jobs as businesses shifted overseas.
His vice president pick of Mike Pence, though, has left a sour taste in unions’ mouths. During Pence’s time in the House of Representatives, he was a fierce advocate for free-trade agreements and has opposed lifting minimum wage.
Despite that, a few unions are behind Trump. The National Border Patrol Council and Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) have both officially endorsed the Republican candidate.
“Obviously, this is an unusual election,” FOP President Chuck Canterbury said in a press release announcing the union’s endorsement. “We have a candidate who declined to seek an endorsement and a candidate without any record as an elected official. Mr. Trump, however, has seriously looked at the issues facing law enforcement today. He understands and supports our priorities and our members believe he will make America safe again.”
A union’s endorsement of a political candidate doesn’t necessarily mean every union member will vote the same way the organization is leaning, though.
“I’m not going to tell you that all of my union members are going to vote for Hillary, but we’re definitely trying to convince them that they should,” Zevenbergen said.
Clinton’s and Trump’s appeal to union workers has grown strong over the course of this campaign season, particularly while in Rust Belt states hit hard when industrial jobs moved overseas.
“We’re going to say yes to standing up for workers’ rights and dignity,” Clinton said while in Cleveland on Labor Day. “I want to create more good jobs with better wages and benefits for hard-working people.”Clinton also expressed her rejection for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, pension cuts and right-to-work laws.
Clinton supporters at the rally listened closely to her policies and felt they would not only help labor unions and the economy, but they would also affect things on an even larger scale.
“There’s really no competition between Hillary [Clinton] and her competitors,” said Richard Haire, who came to Cleveland from Fairview, Pa.
Haire supported Bernie Sanders when he was still in the running, but he said he now supports mostly everything Clinton says, including her stance on labor unions.
“They want to turn us back into slaves,” Haire said about replacing labor unions.
Gwendolyn Howard of East Cleveland believes Clinton’s policies on the economy and labor unions will trickle all the way down to her low-income neighborhood.
“Our city is a high-poverty city. It needs to make a comeback in some way,” Howard said.
She said Clinton’s emphasis on creating jobs gives her hope that those policies will come to fruition in East Cleveland.
“She’s saying she’ll bring more jobs to our country,” Howard said. “Those jobs present themselves in the form of skills and labor.”
Kalilah Wright came all the way from Baltimore, Md. to see Clinton’s campaign. Despite Clinton’s appeal to union workers, Wright, a small business owner, still thinks her policies will benefit her business, family and neighborhood.
Wright, like Howard, hopes policies will trickle down to her neighborhood and create economic stimulation as well as different recreational areas for people to go and spend time.
“I definitely think for now, we need a higher minimum wage,” Wright said. “We have a lot of kids in underprivileged neighborhoods…violence stems from people not doing anything.”
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